


Give It Time

by NovaStars42



Series: The Kids Aren't Alright [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Acceptance, F/M, Fist Fights, Humanstuck, Hurt/Comfort, Video Game, post accident Mituna, pyralspite the guide dog, terezi Vs vriska
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 18:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6436351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaStars42/pseuds/NovaStars42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mituna has been distant since graduation. Latula is going to get to the bottom of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give It Time

The front door slammed shut like I knew it would and nails clicked on the hardwood floors. I heard Terezi’s shoes hit the wall as she kicked them off. She groaned, loud and frustrated.

“Vriska again?” I called through the house.

“Always,” she shot back. She’d been fighting with her best friend on and off all summer. When she’d left ten minutes ago I knew it wouldn’t end well. They argued in the street until they both parted ways, storming back to their respective residences. I’d seen it all out the front window.

“Sometimes I wanna steal that stupid prosthetic arm of hers and hang it from a tree,” my sister huffed as she entered the room. She’d left her cane somewhere and instead used her hand to feel the walls leading her and her guide dog to the couch. Pyral, the yellow lab, looked out for her but it was up to her to decide where to lead. I didn’t pause my game as she flopped down on the couch and set to letting the guide dog loose.

“That wouldn’t be too funny. Except to us,” I smirked. She giggled in that unsettling way she always had.

“Hang it just high enough she can’t reach it,” she added. I snickered.

I mashed buttons on my wireless controller as the screen flashed with my latest achievement. I’d gotten this game three days ago and I’d started binge playing it right away. I hadn’t left the house in days, even before I sent Terezi to the store to buy the game for me.

“Are you still going to see Mituna today?” She asked, turning her head to look at me with empty eyes. Her sunglasses were off, she’d never put them on this morning.

I didn’t answer her, just kept mashing buttons.

“Latula?” She asked. This time I paused the game.

“Yeah,” I answered, staring blankly at the TV. “Yeah, I’m gonna go see him.”

“Gamzee’s brother is over there right now,” she offered. I could hear the distaste on her tongue as she spit the name of her most hated neighbor off of her tongue. Kurloz was okay, I guessed. Creepy, and perpetually smelled like weed, but okay.

“I’ll wait until he leaves,” I replied.

“Go now,” she urged. I turned to look at her. I waited for her to reply, but then I realized she couldn’t see my questioning expression. A year since her accident hadn’t made it any easier.

“Why?”

“Because, Karkat is coming over,” she smirked.

“Eww, Terezi,” I laughed, “you put your mouth on that kid?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?’ She cackled. I reached over, dropping my controller and locking my arm around her shoulders. She screeched and I gave my sister a noogie, thoroughly messing up her hair and causing the dog to bark.

"I don’t know if I should leave!” I grinned, “and leave my poor, innocent little sister with a boy!”

Terezi fought me off, licking my arm and causing me to shriek into laughter before she managed to push me off.

“It’s not like that at all!” She insisted.

“Sure,” I huffed, still smiling, “because if I found you you did!”

“Latula!” She groaned.

I got up off the couch and stretched after saving my game and looked around for my socks.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go.”

“Bye.”

Terezi flopped down where I had just been sitting and grinned at me menacingly with her teeth. I had such a weird sister. She was adorable.

I decided to ditch the socks and wear flip flops over to my boyfriend’s instead. I left the front door unlocked so Karkat could let himself in. As I walked across the street, it seemed like everyone in our lively neighborhood was up to something.

Karkat Vantas was half out of his front door, screaming at his older brother Kankri, as the older boy lectured him. Vriska had made herself scarce. Her older sister Aranea was outside, reading on their measly front porch. Mrs. Leijon was home, and I could see her talking to one of the family’s many cats in her garage.

The walk to the Captor house wasn’t a long one. I was just dragging my feet.

The house was identical to every other house in the neighborhood. but it loomed over me, unlike all the others. I’d walked this route a million times, there shouldn't be anything different about it.

As I started up the driveway, Sollux, Mituna’s younger brother came out of the house.

“Hey,” I greeted, raising my hand to wave at him. The way he looked at me I already knew he was in one of his moods.

“I wouldn't go in there if I wath you,” he warned, very seriously.

“Why not?” I asked, stopping short.

He kept walking, his face sort of grave. He never uttered another word to me. I chalked it up to him and his mood swings I thought they should medicate him for.

Sollux was gone, but I was still standing in the driveway, next to Mr. Captor’s car, staring at the front door. It was fine, I was sure.

I thought back to last winter, the day after New Years. I got a call at three in the morning, Sollux was on the other end, crying, telling me his brother had been in a car accident. I thought the worst. I thought he was dead. I woke my mom up and she took me to the hospital, the one Terezi had been in six months earlier.

He wished he was dead, he told me three days later. And then he screamed and the nurses gave him more morphine. He’d hit his head on the dash, causing damage to his brain and nervous system. He was miserable.

He continued to be miserable the rest of senior year. He twitched and shook and his words wouldn't obey him. Most of his sentences consisted of strings of curse words. By graduation in May he was angry at everything and everyone.

He was distant. I didn’t blame him. Most of his text messages were riddled with spelling errors and random numbers thrown in. After a while he stopped texting me all together.

I wasn’t much better. I’d been avoiding him since our siblings got out of school for the summer.

I wasn’t sure if wanted to go inside anymore.

I should though. I should go see him. I promised.

I took a deep breath and walked to the front door.

Mr. Captor, the sole parent in the household, was standing near the door when I opened it. He was just standing there, looking at something.

I froze.

Mituna was laughing in the other room. A genuine laugh that carried through the house in a way it hadn’t since there had been snow on the ground.

“God, you suck at this game, Kurloz!” He said with no sting to his tone. His best friend’s deep chuckle followed it.

I walked over the house’s threshold and around my boyfriend’s dad. I approached them before I even registered I was moving. They both looked away from the television and shifted their attention to me.

“Latula!” Mituna grinned and he held out his arm. He was urging me to hug him, or take his hand or cuddle up next to him or something. Something he hadn’t done in a long time. Something we hadn’t done in a long time.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” he continued, grasping my hand as I offered mine to him.

“Tuna?” I didn’t trust my ears. He spoke in full, articulated sentences. He made sense.

“Who else?” He asked. He scooted closer to Kurloz on the couch and pulled me to sit next to him. Kurloz rose a hand, offering me a half wave as a hello. I waved back at him.

“Are you feeling okay?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah,” he replied, cheerful, “now that I’ve got my Tulip, anyway.”

Kurloz rolled his eyes and slugged Mituna in the shoulder. Mituna laughed, and they both turned back to the game they were playing on Tuna’s Xbox.

“I know I promised we’d spend some time together. Just give us a sec, we’ll shut it off,” Mituna told me, not looking away from the screen.

“No, it’s cool,” I returned.

He cocked an eyebrow and threw me a sideways glance. An in game explosion attracted his attention back to the screen.

I was desperate to know what was happening in Tuna’s brain. Mituna after his accident was nothing like Mituna before his accident. The way he spoke now made me hurt. My chest tightened. My heart ached. This was painful to watch.

Did he know he was acting differently? Did he know he wasn’t twitching or cursing? Did he know his words made sense?

I looked over and Mr. Captor was gone. Looking out a window I could see the car was gone too.

“Hey, Tulip, Kurloz wanted me to ask you what all the screaming was about earlier,” my boyfriend questioned. The question pulled my attention back to him.

“Oh, Terezi and Vriska got into it,” I answered, standing up from the sofa, “you guys want pop?”

“Sure,” Mituna replied. Kurloz held up two fingers, telling me to bring him one too. I was on my way back from the kitchen with three Mountain Dews when Mituna asked a follow up question.

“Did Terezi punch her?”

“Don’t think so,” I said, kicking back next to Tuna on the couch after divvying out soda.

“She should have,” Kurloz chuckled. His voice sounded like gravel, deep and rumbly. He spoke with a speech impediment too. He’d bit his tongue and severed a nerve or something. Now all his words sounded like he twisted his tongue and said ‘I live on a pirate ship.’ He didn’t talk much before, but he spoke even less now.

I laughed too, pushing my sunglasses up on top of my head.

It clicked all of a sudden, why Mituna was acting this way. Kurloz had been in that car with him. They’d been in the same accident. Of course Kurloz was the reason behind it. Did he know he was he doing this? Did he know his presence was all it took? It took a second to sink in. Mituna was lucid all thanks to Kurloz fucking Makara?

“How you been, Kurloz?” I mumbled, eyeing the can between my fingers as I mulled over my thoughts.

“Okay,” he replied, “Meulin is pregnant.”

That surprised me.

“Oh! Are you guys happy about it?” I asked, now I turned my gaze sideways but my boyfriend big head was in the way. I leaned foreword to look at him. Kurloz made a hand motion, teetering it back and forth in an “eh?” type gesture.

“He said they’re getting a trailer,” Mituna interjected. Kurloz didn’t mind.

“And they’re both going to community college instead of university,” he added, “sounds like a good deal to me.”

I nodded. “Yeah, nothing wrong with community college.”

“I think I’m gonna go too,” he spoke like he was offering it to me, licking his lips nervously, “what, with the….” He trailed off. With the brain damage. I knew what he meant.

“Good,” I grinned, and took a drink of my soda. “Might have to sign myself up if I don’t decide what I wanna do.”

“Credits transfer,” Tuna shrugged.

An explosion rocked the first person shooter on the screen and Kurloz’s half flashed. He’d died. Mituna smirked.

“I gotta go anyway,” Kurloz rasped, clearing his throat to make his speech just a tiny bit easier.

“I’ll see you later, man,” Mituna fist bumped him and Kurloz left for his shoes. He said goodbye and he was out the door a few moments later. We watched him walk down the driveway and over to the Leijon house where Nepeta let him in.

“Wanna play?” My boyfriend asked me, gesturing to the now abandoned player two controller.

“Sure,” I replied, taking it from him as he handed it to me.

“One thing about you, Tulip. You're good at every game you pick up,” he chatted, throwing another look my way. He was still smiling, smiling at me. I couldn’t help but return it.

“I love you,” I said fondly, my tone carrying over the warmth I felt for him.

“I love you too, ’T-Tula,” he stammered and I could see it in his eyes when he realized what he’d just done. Oh no.

“God damn son of a fucking stupid motherfucking bitch!” He raved, dropping his controller to burry his face in his hands. “God, I’m a worth-th, worth-th, use, thse, Jesus Christ!”

“Mituna! Take a breath buddy!” I asserted.

His face twitched into a snarl. “Lat-Latula, get the fuck out of here!”

“Mituna, what? Why?”

“Becathuse, I, I, I,” he stammered, “you shouldn't fucking see- see me like this! Juth, just, juth, go!”

“I,” it was my turn to stutter, “Mituna, do you think I honestly care if you stutter? It’s fine, really, I couldn’t care less.”

Suddenly he did a one-eighty. His tone dropped three octaves and his words came faster and clearer. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-”

“Mituna!” I exclaimed, grasping his face between my hands and forcing him to look me in the eye.

“Mituna, look at me!” I rose my voice and he froze. “Is this why stuff has been so… So weird? Because you're afraid of what I think about you? I don’t care, Tuna. I don’t care. I love you. I love you more than anything. Please stop pushing me away.”

“I’m no-non, not the same per-perso, per, per, fuck, guy!” He argued, his words loud and garbled, and his expression sour.

“I don’t care, Mituna!” I said, exasperated, “I don’t care if you're the same, or different, or green, or pink, or if you're screaming at me over something stupid!”

I watched his face contort from anger to passive hurt. When he spoke again he was quiet about it.

“I fucth up,” he muttered after a long, long silence. He pushed my hands away from him with shaking fingers, and he held my hand awkwardly. “I fucthed up. I’m fucthed up. You muth be so mad at me.”

A smile played across my lips and I lost it. I took my free hand and tried in vain to cover my face. I wasn’t laughing at him. Okay, I was, but I wasn’t laughing at him to be mean.

“What?” He asked, his face scrunching up.

I giggled hysterically a little more before I could answer him.

“I’m still wearing your ring, aren’t I?”

My laughter died off and my gaze settled on the union of our hands resting on our laps. He thumbed over the gold band I’d proudly worn on my finger since last summer.

I remembered the gossip that’d gone around the first week of senior year. Everybody thought I was pregnant. I remember my mother telling me I was stupid and it wouldn't last. I remembered Terezi rolling her eyes but still congratulating us. I remembered Mituna’s dad giving his son a serious look but he wished us luck anyway.

I remembered sitting in the hospital room with him for days. I remembered the day he came home and I sat with him all night after he couldn’t stop shaking. I didn’t see my mom or Terezi for five days that week.

“I feelah like I- I- I’m trapped in huh-here, Latula,” he confessed, “no-huh, nothing feels different. I juth ca-can’t talk. Or move. Or drive.”

“I can understand you fine,” I assured, rubbing my thumb in slow circles on his hand, “and I’ll take you wherever you wanna go.”

“Thanks,” he managed without stuttering. I could tell he thought I was just saying that.

“It’s gonna get easier, Tuna. I know nothing can change this, but you’ll get used to it,” I sighed, “I know you don’t wanna get used to it, but it’ll just mean it’s getting better.”

It could be worse. He could be unable to take care of himself. He could be paralyzed like Rufio’s little brother. I was thankful it wasn’t worse.

His shoulders were relaxed but his brows were knitted. He still looked sad.

“We should practice this summer, to get your hand writing and stuff back on par. We’ve still got all summer, I know you could do it,” I smiled back at him, leaning forward to kiss the tip of his nose. That did it. He leaned back and looked at me, grinning crookedly.

“Oh-only if you g-give me a smoo, ah, a smoo- ah, a kiss for eh-every letter,” he jested, and leaned back my way, our lips colliding in the middle.

A shriek forced us to jump apart. It scared us both more then we wanted to admit. My heart lept. A dog started barking and I knew right away it was Terezi.

“Sh-shit,” Mituna stammered.

“C'mon,” I mutter, and I pull him with me. We forego our shoes and instead step out on to the house’s tiny front porch to see what the commotion was.

Vriska was laying face down In the street with Terezi towering over her. Terezi's cane was planted on Vriska’s back like it was some kind of saber. Karkat was standing off to the side awkwardly holding Vriska’s prosthetic arm. Pyral was standing nearby, barking, his leash unattended and dragging on the ground.

In one quick movement, Vriska grabbed Terezi by the leg and pulled her over. My sister landed on the ground and suddenly Vriska was on top of her.

“Serket! Don’t you dare!” I shouted, but either she ignored me or didn’t hear me because she reeled back and sucker punched my sister in the face.

I don’t know where Aranea apparated from, but as I sprinted across Mituna’s lawn and in to the street, she was coming from somewhere else, approaching just as fast. I reached the feuding pair first. I tore Vriska off Terezi and threw her back, where her sister caught her around the arms. Terezi tried to lunge at her, but I put my hand on her chest and pushed her back down.

“How 'bout you keep that thing on a leash, huh, Serket?” I shouted.

“Oh please!” Aranea shot back, “for a lawyer’s daughter, you cause yourself enough problems!”

“Let me go!” Vriska snarled, “Aranea! Let me go!”

“Shut up,” the older Serket girl hissed.

“Ladies,” Kankri cut in. I didn’t see him come out of his house, but he was standing nearby with a hand on his brother’s shoulder and he held the leash of Terezi’s dog in the other.

“If I might ask, could we cease the shouting and talk about this like civilized people? Parents are arriving home and we would all rather not hear about this later from our caretakers. Besides,” he chittered, “some people find loud noises triggering.”

“Alright,” I huffed, “who started it?”

“She did!” Both of the feuding girls said at once. I rolled my eyes and turned to my sister.

“Spill it,” I spat. She couldn’t see me glowering at her but she shrunk back away from my tone.

“She hacked my Facebook account and wrote horrible things all over my page,” Terezi spit out sourly.

“Yeah, well she stole my roleplay dice!” Vriska interjected, outraged.

“You left Tavros and me out in the woods and neither of us could get back!” Terezi argued.

“You and I walked that trail a hundred times!”

“Before you blew up that bottle rocket and blinded me!”

“I blinded myself too!”

“In one eye!”

“Girls,” Kankri intervened, “this is not a blame game. You two have been friends since we all moved in here. Don’t you suppose it’s a little childish? Now I know with female cycles things can be hard but-”

“Kankri, thut the fuck up, you s-stupid s-son of a bitch,” Mituna cut in, and I hadn’t even heard him approach.

“Mituna?” He questioned. His eyebrows raised and his jaw went slack. Aranea had a similar reaction. Oh, right. He hadn’t gone out of the house much since graduation a month ago.

“Yeah, fuckass,” he replied, imitating Karkat, “how about you guyth straight up fucth off.”

“Excuse me!” The elder Vantas brother said, astonished, “that sort of language isn’t-”

“Kankri!” I growled, “not helping.”

He clammed up but he wasn’t happy about it.

“If Vriska says she’s sorry, Terezi will give back her dice,” I offer, and it’s my first and final offer.

“Apologize,” Aranea hissed at her sister, giving her a hash shove away from her now the younger girl had calmed down.

“Now,” Aranea threatened.

“Fine!” Vriska exclaimed, and then, much quieter she said, “sorry.”

“We’re done here,” I concluded.

Karkat hesitantly offered Vriska her arm and she took it back with a dirty look. Aranea slapped her sister upside the head as they turned to leave. Both girls slung insults at each other as the older sibling walked guarded foot steps behind the younger the whole walk home.

Mituna’s hand extended to help me off of the ground and I took it, though I didn’t lean my weight on him. I helped my sister off the ground next.

I took Pyral back from Kankri and found Terezi’s discarded cane, returning them both back to her. My sister’s face was swollen and starting to bruise near her temple. On the other side, just under her eye, she had a couple shallow scrapes from where she’d hit the road.

“Not cool, Terezi. Not cool,” I told her scornfully.

“I could have handled that,” she insisted. She rose a hand to touch her face right after and hissed as soon as her fingers grazed the cuts.

“Sure,” I huffed, “let’s go get you cleaned up.”

“I can clean myself up,” she insisted again. I rolled my eyes and took Mituna by the hand.

Kankri followed his younger brother back to the house with us. He sat at my kitchen table as Terezi got up on the counter next to the kitchen sink. I ran warm water over a wash cloth before I handed it to her.

I leaned on the counter near her, watching her gingerly rub the washcloth over her rounded cheeks. She was average height for fourteen, but she still had enough baby fat to look twelve. She’d be fifteen in October. It made me feel old.

Mituna was loitering near the fridge, away from the rest of us and fiddling with his phone.

Karkat parked himself next to Terezi. He looked anxious, too anxious. I wondered what his deal was.

“Do you want me to get you a bandaid or something?” Karkat asked hesitantly.

“I’m blind, not helpless,” Terezi retorted.

Oh.

Okay I got it.

She wanted them to be a thing before I’d left, but not anymore.

Karkat drew back. Kankri watched from afar.

“Karkat,” Kankri interjected immediately, “father will be home soon.”

“Yeah,” Karkat replied. He looked relieved his brother had given him a cop out. “Bye Terezi.”

“Bye,” she spit sourly, and the Vantas brothers left the house, bidding Mituna and I a goodbye as well.

“Are they gone?” My sister asked after the front door shut.

“Yeah,” Mituna agreed. She sighed heavily and leaned over the sink, grasping for the handles. She wrung out her wash cloth after letting the water run. The water washing away the tiny flecks of blood that had dripped from her skin.

“What was that about?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

My sister sighed again. “He came over to tell me he kissed Dave Strider and that he was sorry.”

Not cool.

I clicked my tongue and went to the medicine cabinet, fishing out the antibiotic ointment and a red band aid. I pushed her hand away and dried her cheek with a paper towel before applying the cream.

“I thought he really liked me. I don’t understand why he would do that?” She asked sadly. She sounded like she hoped I’d know the answer. I stuck the band aid to her skin.

“I dunno sissy,” It was my turn to sigh, “people do dumb stuff.”

“Yeah, TZ. Don’t bu-beat yours-self up a-about it,” Mituna added.

“You gotta know in your own rad little heart how people should treat you,” I proceeded, “don’t let anyone offer you any less.”

“Thanks,” she replied, and she looked like somebody seriously rained on her parade. I patted her on the back and lead Mituna out of the room. She needed some time to figure stuff out.

I sat back on the couch and picked up my game controller. I tossed it to my boyfriend as he sat down and he pressed the play button. I reached back over and paused it again.

“Hold up, babe,” I smirked, “I got a question to ask.”

“What'th that?” He questioned, shaking his head to move his hair out of his eyes.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“That’s dang-dangerous,” he laughed, earning him a slug to the arm. He laughed harder and I cracked a smile.

“Seriously, I’ve been thinking!” I stressed.

“Ah-bout what?” He purred, leaning closer to me. I wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him close, nosing his cheek and leaning my forehead on his temple.

“Oh, you know,” I said, nonchalant, “normal stuff. Gaming, skateboarding, college… Weddings.”

“Weddings?” He mocked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “we never sat down and talked about it.”

“Wan-ah, Wanna go to Veg-Vegas?”

“Hell yeah!”

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, ramblings about writing post-accident Mituna. 
> 
> Soo...Mituna is a weird one to write? I tried to keep the root of him, and I'm not sure how that went.  
> Mituna is angry, and hes vulgar and clumsy. He switches personalities in a snap. Canon doesn't tell us if he was like this before his accident (like Sollux) or if the split happened after the accident.  
> However, he isn't angry at everyone. We know from canon he and Kurloz are good friend, and that Mituna may or may not be lucid while talking to him. I reflected that here. Realistic? I don't know. Good story? Probably. He probably isn't too angry at Latula? I don't see why she'd stick around for eons if he was. 
> 
> Also, Latuna elope chapter coming up? defiantly.


End file.
